Erasing Your Pain
by Zerectica
Summary: When Peter saw the blood, it cut him deeply and he wanted nothing more than to take care of her.


_**A/N: How adorable was the Pemma scene in "Brave New World?!" Peter hugged Emma AND he touched her face! AWWWWWWWWWWW! I can't get over how incredibly adorable that was.**_

* * *

Peter was walking across the carnival grounds after Samuel was brought to his knees, literally, when he saw the most beautiful sight his eyes had ever beheld. Emma. She was alive and she was walking toward him. When the distance between them began to close in, they both picked up the pace, neither stopping until they could get no closer.

Reassuring himself that what he saw was real, Peter threw his arms around the lovely vision. Emma in turn wrapped her right arm around Peter tightly, while her left hand, with it's injured and blood covered fingers, which still burned with pain, she kept off to the side. Both to protect it from further pain and to avoid getting blood all over Peter's clothes.

When the tight embrace, which expressed so much emotion finally ended several moments later and the two broke apart, Peter looked into Emma's eyes with a great warmth and sparkle reflected in his own. A smile of genuine happiness played across his face at the same moment. "Are you okay?" Peter asked, while lovingly placing his hand on her cheek.

With a slight nod of her head, Emma let Peter know that she was indeed okay.

As Peter and Emma both looked down, Peter noticed Emma's cut up, blood covered fingers and it filled his heart with such ache. She was hurt. It wasn't serious, but it still caused him pain to see her hurt in any way. Taking her hand gently into his, being careful to not cause her any more pain, Peter examined the injury that had brought blood to Emma's poor fingers.

"There was a man named Doyle... he made me play."

When Emma began speaking, Peter stopped caressing her hand and brought his eyes back up to her face. "Doyle."

The name reverberated through his thoughts. Doyle was the one responsible for Emma's suffering, both the physical suffering of her cut fingers and the emotional suffering she felt when he forced her to bend to his will. Doyle. It was a name he wouldn't soon forget.

"Your friend... took care of him."

Her words caused Peter to look away suddenly. The "friend" to which Emma was referring was Sylar and knowing him as he did, Peter couldn't hide the trepidation he felt as he wondered in what way Sylar had, "taken care of him."

As Peter and Emma walked to the tent where Emma had been held against her will, Peter wondered what he would find once he stepped inside. Would Sylar have killed Doyle? In spite of the events that occurred while they were trapped in the nightmare Matt created to hold Sylar, Peter still couldn't fully trust him. He was still Sylar after all. He would have to earn Peter's trust and that would take time. If it ever happened.

"What do you think?" Sylar inquired of Peter once he entered the tent.

Looking at man tied up with some of the carnival's lights, Peter admired the creative way in which Sylar had dealt with the Doyle situation and the fact that he hadn't reverted back to his old ways and killed him. Sylar just might earn his trust. So far he had proven himself capable of being the hero. If he stuck to this path, Peter could see himself learning to trust him someday.

"I like it," Sylar stated, seemingly pleased the idea of being a hero, rather than a villain.

Shortly after Claire jumped off the top of the Ferris wheel while the world watched, Sylar, Peter and Emma all quietly snuck away. With an assist from Sylar, Peter and Emma headed toward the hospital, while he headed in his own direction.

Once they arrived at Mercy Heights Hospital, Peter took Emma to her office, before setting off in search of the medical supplies he would need to tend to her fingers. It was late and the hospital was fairly quiet, so no one saw the pair enter the hospital, or what had happened to the file clerk's fingers. They wouldn't have to try to come up with an explanation for what had happened, which came as a relief. Shortly thereafter, Peter returned with the items he would need, slipping into the file room having gone relatively unseen along his journey.

With her soft hand held in his, Peter set about washing the blood from her fingers with the gentleness of a soft summer breeze. As the blood was cleared away, revealing the cuts buried beneath, he began to delicately brush his thumb along the sides of her fingers in a soothing manner in an effort to stave off any pain, whether it be physical or emotional.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Peter asked looking up from his task. Now that the cuts embedded in her fingers were more clearly visible with the blood no longer concealing them, his concern for her had returned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Emma answered, once again reassuring him.

When her fingers were clean, Peter started work on the bandaging. He took great care in his task. Hurting her would be unacceptable. As he worked, Peter kept his eyes both on what he was doing and Emma's face.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I was worried about you."

The impact of Peter's words was heightened by the depth of caring that filled his eyes, as he looked into Emma's, which still held a residual fear concerning the night's events. Peter's eyes held so much emotion as he tended to her injured fingers that his words weren't necessary. They spoke everything for him. One look into his eyes and Emma knew how concerned he had truly been for her and it touched her heart.

"Thank you for saving me," Emma said placing her hand on Peter's face, in a move reminiscent of earlier in the evening when Peter had touched her's following the hug they shared after being reunited.

Her touch warmed Peter's skin and brought a smile to his face. "You should thank Sylar," Peter answered, wondering what the man may have told her about his involvement that would cause Emma to thank him.

"I did," she replied. "He told me I should thank you."

The statement caught Peter by surprise and again he thought about Sylar's commitment to changing his ways.

After a couple more minutes, Peter's work was done. He had finished bandaging Emma's fingers. His dream had been averted. Emma had been saved.

When he dropped Emma off at her apartment a short time later, Peter smiled again, knowing that once more, they had all the time in the world to be a part of each other's lives. And he couldn't have been happier.


End file.
